Ore-roasting furnace.



U. WEDGE. URE ROASTING PURNAUE. APPLIGATIQN FILED 001.'.181909,

Patented Aug. 2, 1910.

i superpose l UNITED STATESl PATENT onnion.

UTLEY WEDG-E, OF ARDMORE, PENNSYLVANIA.

ORE-aofisrine summon.

Application led October 1B, 1909. Serial No. 523,180.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 2, 1910.

which represents, in vertical longitudinal' section, a furnace constructed in with my inventionK My invention is applicable to any furnace of that ty e which ein loys a plurality of hearths, an in which the ma terial to be treated is first deposited upon the uppermost hearth and then descends from hearth to hearth of the series. A

In the drawing, have shown a furnaceaccordance i similar in its general construction to that forming the subject of a number of my prior patents, 1 representing the outer wall of the furnace, 2 the superposed' hearths, and 3 the central -hollow shaft carrying the radial arms 5 which roject into the working chambers of the urnace and are intended to lcarry stirring and feeding blades vor rabbles (not shown 1in the drawing), these blades `serving to convey the material over the hearths ofthe furnace rst from the inner to the outer portion of one hearth and then from the outer to the inner-portion of the s nextlower hearth, and so on, ,the material beingdischarged from one hearth to another through vopenings 6 located' alternately at f t eo'uterand-inner portions of the hearths.

*Lopen furnace .in whichl the heating gases refferably, the 'roof ot' the furnace serves ating'gor. drying floor for the green gore or other 'material under treat-ment, and

" t slija'ft..3'.is` provided lwith any lsuitable d gj: device whereby the ore is deposited i thenpperinost hearth of the. furnace trough -a trapped or luted passage, in order "prevent the escape of gas from the upper- '.{working chamber.

have s hown thefurnace as one of -the e type, 7 representing the chambers for assageof the heating gases,v but my intron is ynpt limited toa furnace of this haracter, but is applicable aslwell to an invention is to so con.

have access to the working chambers, or to a. composite open and muflie furnace, whether the latter feature be employed in connection with the preliminar'y chamber or chambers thereof, or with the final chamber or chambers.

In treating some classes of material it is advisable to subject the latter, during the nal sta es of its treatment, to the gases evolved rom the material during the preA liminary stages of the treatment, for instance, it is a common practice in treating copper suliid ores to mix' the same with salt for chloridizing the copper, consequently, as soon as heat is applied, hydrochlor1c acid gas is set free, and if the furnace is of the ordinaryupalraft type the vgas escapes from the uppermost or preliminary treating chamber direct to the outletiue or stack. If, however, the furnace, or two or moreof the upper working chambers of the furnace, are provided with a down draft, the fumes or gases evolved -from the material in the upper chamber or chambers are carried into contact' with the material in a lower chamber or chambers, consequently, in a case sucht as that above noted, the hydro- -chloric acid gas would attack any copper ox'id which might be present in s uch lower working chamber or chambers (by reason of decomposition of cupric chlorid', or otherwise) and the recovery of Acopper values lin subsequent leachin thereby be made easier or' more com lete, as more of the copper value would be in a watersoluble condition.

My invention is applicable to a furnace havingany desired number of superposed chambers, but in the drawing I have selected for illustration a furnace having seven'of Such chambers.

' the sim lest form of my improved fur# with water, wouldr nace the out et Iiue or stack may communi-I cate with tlie lowermost working ch amber'so that the vdraft would be downward through all of the working chambers'of the furnace, but in the drawing I have shown a furnace with divided draft, one outlet flue or stack communicating throu h a passage 9 with an intermediate cham er of the furnace so as' to provide `a down draft through this chamber and through vthe chambers above the same', and another outlet passa e 10 coml municating withthc ncXtchamer below so as to provide au up draft through that chamber and through the chambers belovr chamber of the seriesnd with euitabledraft the saine. This provides for the action of the evolved gases upon the rnaurial upon the four upper hearths and for the independent. utilization, if desir' 1, of the gases; evolved froni the iriaterial .in the three lower h earth u.

.ln order to prevent any flow of gas from one section of the furnace to the other the passare (i, connecting the fourth and fifth cham ers, maybe provided with any suitable forni of seal or lute. In the drawing l have f illustrated, immediately below said passa e, a shelf 12, upon which the material 'owing from one Working chamber tol the other is supported so as to back up into the 4assen l (-3 :and close the same against the ow o gas in either direction, the mate rial being removed from the shelf 12 at iiitervals by means of a scraper 13 attached to an arin 5 on the central rotating shaft 3 of the furnace, or more than one of said arms may be thus provided. lf it is not desired to prevent the admixture of gases. from the upper chambers with those freni the lower chambers of the furnace, this seal need not be ein. loyed, the single outlet 9, serving,r to, providpe down draft. through the upper chambers and up draft through the lower chambers or, when the sealis employed, the lower chambers may be Without any gas outlet, if desired.

.If up draft through the upper chambers and dow-n draft through the lower chambers is required an outlet passage inay communicate with theupperinost chamber and another outlet passage with the lowermost chamber with or without 'a sealed coinmunication between the two sections of the furnace, or the outlet passages may be other- Wise disposed, depending upon the desired direction of draft through the various chainbers of the furnace.

I claim:

l.. A furnace having Va .plurality of superosed working chambers, each with hearthl or supporting materielll to be acte-cl upon, and means for agitating said material, and an outlet passage communicating with a ldwer chamberand with suitable draft inducng means whereby down draftmay be established through jthat portion of the furu nace which isabove the outlet,

2i A faena-'ce having a series of superposed 'working chambers, and an outlet as sage communicating with an -izriterme ate,

inducing means, so as to cause down draft of gases in that iiiortion of the furnace which is above the outlet Without causing said gases to paesi through that portion of the furnace 6U able draft/inducing means, one of said out- 65 let passages; coniinunieatii'ig with an inter" mediate chamber of the .series so as to irovide down draft through that portion o the furnace which is above the outlet, and the other outlet providing independent draft through the lower portion of the furnace.

t. A furnace having a series`of supervpoced wor-hing chambers and also having two out-let passages each provided with suitable draft inducingmeans, said outlet pasa Sages beingeo disposed that down draft may be induced through the upper portion of the furnaoe'and up draft through the lower por tion of the sume.

5. A furnace having a plurality of super- 8o posed Working chambers, and a Sealed passage for the material between two .of vthe intermediate chambers of the furnace, whereby the draft in the upper chamber-e of the furnace may be out oil' from that in a Se lower chamber or chambers.

6. A furnace having a plurality of superposed working chambers, a sealed passage for the material between two of the int-erniediate ohan'ibeis-of the furnace, and means -90 for inducing down draft through the chainbers above the seal.

7. A furnace having a plurality of superposed Working chambers, a sealedl passage for the material between two -of the intermediate chambers, and independent. outlet,

passages communicating with the upper and lower sections of the furnace.

8. A furnace having a plurality of Superposed Workin for the' material. .between two of the inter-y mediate hainbers, a down-draft outlet vfrom the upper vsection of the furnace, and an updraft outlet from the lower section.

In testimony whereof, I have signed Amy .1-05

naine to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

'TLEY Wiimesses:

Cime. BENTLEY (Bomann,

chambers, afsealed passage 

